Tea Parties: 'Calling All Racists!'

Did you know that only racists turned out for the recent nationwide "tea parties"?!

"Let's be very honest about what this is about," actress/comedian Janeane Garofalo said on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show. "It's not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about. They don't know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks."

Oh.

A few days after Garofalo's analysis of why many Americans took to the streets in protest of the Obama administration's borrowing, spending and upcoming tax hikes, I sat in the chair at my barber's shop. A black customer came in, sat down and asked me whether I watched the coverage on the tea parties.

"Some," I said.

"Well," he responded, "it looked like a Klan meeting."

"Excuse me?"

"I looked at my television," he said. "I saw a bunch of white folks. It looked like a Klan meeting."

"Tell me you're kidding."

"No, it was nothing but white people. Looked like a Klan meeting."

"Really? I sometimes go to West Angeles (a large inner-city church with a predominately black congregation). Suppose a white guy walked into a Sunday service there and said, 'Looks like a bunch of Bloods and Crips to me.'"

"That's not the same."

"Isn't it? A bunch of people — some blacks included — came together in protest over this bailout stuff. But because most of them were white, you compared it to the Klan. News flash, my friend — not all white folks belong to the Klan."

"OK, maybe you got a point."

"Maybe?" I asked. "What would you say if white people said that given President Barack Obama's 20-year relationship with his whack-job pastor, Obama is the one who's racist?"

"What? Are you calling Obama racist?"

"No, I said one could make a stronger argument about that than your argument about the 'racist' tea parties."

"Oh, no? When Obama announced his candidacy for president in Springfield, Ill., Rev. Wright was supposed to deliver the invocation. At the last moment, Obama called Wright and canceled him. But Obama didn't know that his pastor was controversial?"

No response.

"And after the cancellation, Wright said something to the effect of, 'Well, once people find out what I've done, the Jews could cause Obama some problems.'"

"That still doesn't mean Obama knew about the reverend's views."

"Did you read Obama's book? The first one?"

"No."

"Obama wrote about attending the sermon where Wright talks about the 'audacity of hope.' The reverend talked about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities America bombed to end World War II.

My dad, a Marine, was stationed on the island of Guam when we assumed Japan would have to be invaded. Instead, we ended the war by dropping those bombs — saving probably a million Japanese and American lives. Wright compared this to what happened in South Africa in 1960 in a place called Sharpeville. Do you know about Sharpeville?"

"No."

"Over 250 innocent black men, women and children were killed or wounded when the apartheid government opened fire on unarmed protestors — a lot of them shot in the back. Now, Obama attended that sermon and had no problem with Wright comparing Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Sharpeville . Outrageous! And Obama used 'The Audacity of Hope' as the title of his second book and as a slogan when he ran for president. You want it both ways. Obama is so bright, but he was clueless about the stupid ideas of his pastor."

"Well, he isn't responsible for what his reverend says or believes."

"Never said he was. We're talking about whether Obama knew that Wright thought 9/11 was about the 'chickens coming home to roost' and that Wright implied that government was behind the drug epidemic by supplying the drugs."

Again, nothing.

"Suppose John McCain attended a church whose pastor — a man he referred to as his spiritual adviser — made racist comments about blacks and other people. The press would have been all over it, and McCain wouldn't have gotten his party's nomination. And if it came out too late for that, he would have been slaughtered in the election."

"You know," he conceded, "I guess when you like somebody, you tend to make excuses for them."

"That's what I'm saying. One more point. Nobody, by the way, stopped you, as a black man, from going to one of those tea parties. You didn't have to flash a secret sign. There was no registration fee. Nobody posted guards, stopping people at the gate. You try walking into a Klan meeting."

He laughed. As I got up to leave, we shook hands.

"One small step for man," I told him. "One giant leap for mankind."

"You take care," he said.

Larry Elder is a syndicated radio talk show host and best-selling author. His latest book, "What's Race Got to Do with It?" is available now. To find out more about Larry Elder, visit his Web page at www.LarryElder.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

CREATORS SYNDICATE COPYRIGHT 2009 LAURENCE A. ELDER

Comments

Dear Larry Elder, as you're aware, people of all races and political affiliations, need to get familiar with the Boston Tea Party and Taxation without Representation! This Grass Roots organization is not going away UNTIL SALARIES AND RETIREMENTS ARE CUT TO $12,000.00 YEARLY! As I've stated before, I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican, Black or White, Change is needed in all phases of government, but not the 'high-dollar spending' changes Obama has been doing in his 100 days on the job!
UNFORTUNATELY, OBAMA THINKS BY 'SHAKING AND EXTENDING HIS HAND & TELLING CHAVEZ & CASTRO' = 'I'M NOT TALKING JUST TO BE TALKING' IS GOING TO MAKE THESE DICTATORS LOVE HIM AND AMERICA, HE'S OH SO MISTAKEN. THESE PEOPLE MAIM, RAPE AND KILL THEIR OWN KIN, AND HE THINKS THEY'LL SPARE HIM - GIVE ME A BREAK!

Taxpayers have been saying for years, 'radical and socialist changes' cannot be tolerated; therefore, look for the Tea Parties to increase and politicians' pay to come to a screeching halt!
THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT TO ME-IT FITS AMERICAS' THINKING!
===========================================================================

There was a Pied Piper who said,
“We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change it!”
*And the people said, “Change is good!”

Then he said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,”…*And the people said “Sock it to them!”

“and redistribute their wealth.”
*And the people said, “Show me the money!”

And then he said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”
*And Joe the plumber said, are you kidding me?”

Then the Pied Piper actually said, “I'll bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”
*And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates.”

So the Pied Piper said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we'll bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!” Then he said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing.”
*And the people said, “Ole`! Bravo!” And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy slowed even further. Then the Pied Piper said, “I am the Messiah and I'm here to save you! We'll just print more money so everyone will have enough!” But our foreign trading partners said, “Wait a minute. Your dollar isn't worth what it was. You'll have to pay more.”
*And the people said, “Wait a minute. That's not fair!”

And the world said, “Neither are these other, idiotic programs you've embraced. You've become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you'll play by ourrules!”
*And the people said, “What have we done?”

But it was too late.
If you think this is a fairy tale, open your eyes and ears. It's happening RIGHT NOW!
Did you know the president's name is really an acronym…
One Big Astounding Mistake America

I attended the TEA PARTY in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. I did not see too many Black folks, but there were some and I was one of them. Everyone there was there for the reason I was. I was not in anyway misgtreated by anyone attending the TEA PARTY. I was however, called a "Dumb-Ass Nigger" not, by any White person at the rally, but by a Black teenager who taunted me as I approached the actual rally. He was one of those with saggy pants, anti-White attitude and definitely an Obama man! Well, I was too until I realized what Obama is doing and is going to do to our country. I am so afraid that Obama will set back race relations in our country as nobody else could. I don't want a Castro type in Washington, dictating to companys about who they can and can't hire, or telling companys what they can and can't build or make. I also do not want TAXES TAXES TAXES as this really WILL destroy us, not only the Black Community, but all of America.

I went to a tea party in Springfield, Oregon. There were about 1,200 people there - an enormous crowd for this small town. People from all social levels were there, judging by their clothes and conversation. There was not one racist sign or comment. I saw two Blacks there - one a tall, good looking athlete probably from the University of Oregon with an ant-Obama spending sign. The other was a tall, heavy Black woman scanning the crowd obviously there to see if someone, anyone, had something she could object to. As a police officer (not retired), I've been to many demonstrations - this was the most orderly, most friendy group of people I have ever seen at a demonstration. If it looked like a Klan meeting to someone Black - it was only because the demonstators were against handing out money they earned to people who didn't earn it: hardly a Klan teaching point.

Janean Garafalo hit the nail on the head when she said, "They don't know their history at all." Most of our problems are caused or exacerbated by ignorance. Not only ignorance, but by people who are so proud of their ignorance that they wear it on T-shirts and bumper stickers. An so we go on making college tuition so expensive that a working man can't sent his children to college. We spend so much time trying to impose our religious and political beliefs on children in public school that we discourage them from reading, thinking, and forming their own opinions. No wonder we have so many people who only manage to understand information if it comes in 30-second sound bites.

I read your article about the TEA Parties being racist and that the attendies don't know what the Boston Tea Parties were about. It would appear you feel the attendies are not very well educated presumably by your comment about them not knowing what the Boston Tea party was about.

It would seem that you could use some additional education. Our founding fathers were for a little taxes as possible. They believed that government should be small and that people should govern themselves. In fact, only the States are allowed (according to the constitution to coin money). The Federal Reserve (which isn't even part of the government or the Federal Gov. but a private group of Bankers) prints money at will. They don't even have to have it backed by real currency. The Federa Reserve, techincally is unconsitutional!

Much of what our State and Federal Gov. does is illegal. Much of what Obama does is not really legal either! Funny how he refuses to show his birth certificate. If he's got nothing to hide he should show it. Odds are extremely high that the reason he doesn't is because he Legally CAN'T BE PRESIDENT of the United States.

That's not racist, it's a fact. If a White guy or a Asian wasn't born in the US, they couldn't legally be President either.

If only White people atteneded the TEA Parties, rather than calling that racist, you might be saddend by the lack of turn out of all the other races. Especially in large cities where there are a mix of races.

Maybe Black (or non-white lets say) people don't care about paying more taxes? That would be sad.

Do you realize since 200 years ago, even 50 years ago that our tax rates have sky rocketed? Maybe not in just one area, but across the board. Why I need to pay a form of tax to have a dog (a dog license is a form of tax). We all pay taxes on our phone, our water, trash, electricity, cars, motor cycles, homes, and everything we buy. In fact we pay tax multiple times on the same things we've already paid tax on!

A car and a home are the 2 glarring examples. If you buy a car you will pay tax based on the value as long as you own it. When you sell it (or trade it in) and some else buys it they will pay tax as long as they own it. This goes on until the car is junked!

Being a fan of classic cars, I have a '65 Chevelle and a '68 GTO. I'm certain that with the increase in value over the past 20 years on cars like that the owners of both cars have paid many times more in taxes than the car was ever worth!

The same is true with a house. Bought a house in 1950 for $30K? It maybe worth $500K now. Figure out at say 1.1% per year what the tax would be. Wait, every 5 years add value to it so that between 1950 and 2009 the price rises from $30K to $500K. Each year, recalculate the 1.1% tax rate. Now add them all up and I think you'll be shocked just how much the county where a house like that is in has raked in over the past 60 years. Now imiagine that times all the homes in a given state or the whole US.

What about income tax, and sales tax? Those haven't been around all that long. Have they gone down? Of course not! What about gasoline tax, toll roads, etc.? All forms of tax my friend.

If you still think the TEA parties were only for White people, then it is just as logical to say that only white people know (or care) about paying taxes.

Recent presidents, including Obama are pinning massive tax burdens on our children's children! Heck, the unborn will be born into extreme taxation!

Did you know that inflation is a form of hidden or stealth tax? Sound crazy? It isn't! Consider: The Fed. Reserve prints money when ever it wants and as much as it wants. The more printed money there is, the less it's worth. The less it's worth the MORE everyone has to spend to buy what ever they would ordinarally buy. Do you see a problem yet? If not, you'll get to learn something new. If I'm the state government and I tax you at 8% sales tax and 10 years ago you buy a average stereo for $100 that's $8 in tax. Now with inflation because there's more dollars in the market, you buy a similar stereo today and it's $300. Now the tax is $24. Your tax, on sales tax alone has TRIPPLED even though the sales tax rate never changed!

So, I hope you'll rally some blacks, asians, and latins to a TEA party or some other anti-tax event and do what you can to keep more of your own hard earned money! Then it won't look like a Klan party! Oh, and before you get too old, get a living trust so all your money and possesions won't go into probate and a big chunk of it go to the government instead of your posterity.